Alright, I'll Talk About POWER MINERS... (but you won't like it)

[@mysteryofthesevensword]

Lol, no. Power miners is way better than rock raiders. What a pointless video. Grow up dude.

[@tacoman6697]

Pin of shame. Shaaaaame.

[@Nadiki]

Pin of shame! Pin of shame!

[@jgblkshot8375]

get pinned lmao

[@loganlamoreaux5347]

this is an opinion video, why are you surprised someone else has a different opinion than you? Why is your opinion better? He made an excellent video, you made a pointless comment.

[@badboybubby5326]

Shame!! Shame!!!!

[@thecelestialtoygazer7816]

An underrated aspect of Power Miners is that each vehicle is given a number (01, 02, etc) makes collecting the sets feel like amassing a uniform fleet, rather than the hodgepodge jumble of Rock Raiders designs. I will admit, however, that Rock Raiders trumps the theme on atmosphere and storytelling. Also funny that the Power Miners seemingly got their colour scheme from the slimy slugs, green and orange

[@phoenixvance6642]

The rock raiders characters are also all visually unique and look great. I wish they designed more

[@BoardGamesBricksHobbies]

Dino Attack/2010 Did this as well, and Exo-Force too (although the Exo-Force ones were not always sequential)

[@ThomasWagteveld]

I actually think the non-uniformity of the rock raider vehicles (although certainly there!) actually adds to the setting. I've always felt the vehicles used and the fact there's not really a 'fleet' sense to the entire assemblage gives it a 'Whatever we got, will have to do' vibe. Which personally speaking adds to the foreboding and uncertain nature of the conflict we find in Rock Raiders.

[@liamandrew5190]

@@ThomasWagteveld the most eloquent comment I’ve seen in a while..

[@The_Yeet]

I want to bring up a counter point to your idea that the colors are 'toy signaling'. Construction vehicles are almost always brighter colors, typically yellow, as they need to stand out. I see this as very similar to that idea. The lime green makes up much of the body, and the dangerous areas are usually orange or near orange. This is especially important when underground as it can be very dark, so the bright unnatural colors would say 'Danger, this is a vehicle'

[@norikins1]

It makes sense in-universe as well. As Slugger put it in the Rock Raiders Without Teal video, the limited colors on the LMS Explorer's vehicles implies a history of use and paint coming off, leaving them mostly gray metal with a few accents.The Power Miners in the comic shown in this video have their vehicles freshly constructed, so they are mostly colorful but do have some gray spots and stickers depicting chipped paint. Slugger did say in the earlier video he liked how "lived in" the Rock Raiders universe is. He probably just appreciates that vibe more, it's akin to the Star Wars original trilogy vs the Prequels.

[@RRSlugger]

Very true! However, I will add that the two points are not mutually exclusive; Power Miners CAN have a colour scheme that reflects true to life construction vehicles *and still look like Fisher Price toys* haha. 😅

[@The_Yeet]

Sure, that makes sense.

[@Gameprojordan]

How many construction sites have you been on? They definitely don't look this bright and neon, even if they came right off the production line. Yeah they use brighter colors, but it's not the ENTIRE vehicle. Also there'a always mud, dirt, and grime all over the vehicles, that is expected on a construction site. Rock raiders color scheme of bright colors evenly distributed around darker tones looks like a much more realistic depiction of a construction vehicle that sees frequent use, getting dented up, paint scratching off, and dirty from being surrounded by debris all the time

[@kentslocum]

​@@RRSluggerOr maybe it's that Fisher Price toys look like more modern construction vehicles, and not the worn-out (but very cool) ones in Rock Raiders.

[@Crazy-Drokon]

The tonal shift between RR and PM isn't exclusive to this themes only. It's the difference between whole eras. Nearing year 2000 a lot of Lego's themes had a dark subtle to it: Slizers had half of their planet instantly destroyed killing and merging surviving characters into mutants seeking to blast away remains of the world, in Roboriders we see another post-apocalyptic world where entire population had to digitize themselves and pilot their bike exosuits through hostile homeland. UFO with it's menacing alien designs. Space themes like Rock Riders and Insectoids that explore the idea of surviving on a stranded planet, who knows how far away from home all alone in the cosmic abyss. Rock Raiders largely remind me the aesthetic of the Alien movies (man-made structures, not Giger's designs. Giger's style was reserved for Lego Technic of that time with all organic shapes and ribbed hooses). In the first Alien large part of the action takes place in the space MINING station. And speaking about aliens, one of the alien fossils in Exploriens is depicting an actual Xenomorph with very little differences. And who can forget about the first Arctic theme with it's glowing alien life forms frozen in the icy meteorites that instantly reminds us of Carpenter's "The Thing". And after all of that the company's focus was shifted to much more cartoonish confrontation be it Alien Conquest with it's goofy green aliens or Power Miners with burping rock goblins. No wonder a lot of people would rather prefer more mature themes of the old days.

[@eightcoins4401]

It honestly feels like any more story driven original theme is just a Ninjago repaint since its sucess.

[@NIRDIAN1]

​@@eightcoins4401Monkie Kid is actually shockingly solid. One of the best animated shows of this decade, probably!

[@kailahmann1823]

It's also in the colors: In the late 90s Lego really became obsessed with all shades of gray pieces, giving almost all themes a darker look. With Power Miners, Mars Mission and even the later waves of Bionicle this was turned back.

[@Eisenwald64]

Actually, the Mask of Light team did draw almost directly from Giger...

[@tostie3110]

These days it's no longer mystery and wonder, more 'how can we mesh a Mech, racecar, dragon/monster build into this theme somehow that clashes with both the essence and artstyle??'

[@kerbajerb]

This video made me realize that building a cool mysterious atmosphere was Lego's entire identity in the late 90's early 2000's. Slizers, Robo Riders, Drome Racers, Rock Raiders, heck even the Technic Competition Series had this feeling. Their world building was through the roof. Bionicle's story wasn't lightning in a bottle as much as it was a culmination of all the lessons they learned with their past themes. Then as Bionicle's sales lost steam there was less and less of that over the years until things like Dreamzzz have basically none at all. I guess it's just easier to sell kids on a TV show than a world. Oh yeah and Rock Raiders doesn't have a working vending machine, your opinions are invalid.

[@ShyGuyXXL]

Why not sell kids on a TV show that HAS a mysterious atmospheric world?

[@Lordodragonss]

"until things like Dreamzzz have basically none at all." I also though that, but we finally get some lore F.... 15 episodes IN! Fact that they failed to present DREAMWORLD as mysterious place is what I call fail.

[@BoardGamesBricksHobbies]

I loved the atmosphere of Drone Racers as a kid, I eventually bought the GameCube game as an adult just for kicks and it was absolutely atrocious. 😅

[@nym5qu17]

drome racers was so swag it felt like a combination of mad max and speed racer but with an entirely unique aesthetic

[@BigYellowSilly]

Power Miners will probably always be my favourite theme but I completely agree with all of this, I think the vehicles are REALLY cool but there's not a whole lot more to the theme than that and the heavy use of stickers makes expanding on it with mocs a little awkward sometimes. One other issue I'd like to add actually is that I think the lack of terrain and stationary builds was a big missed opportunity. You could excuse the lack of story somewhat if you had these cool setpieces that kids could sorta use to make their own, but there's almost none of that. The closest thing we got to a HQ is barely even much of one cause it's built around a function and it being a base was more of an afterthought. Still love the theme to bits, but there's plenty I wish it did differently.

[@georgiahokie1994]

I KNEW you'd be in the comments!

[@jimmyjoe9135]

Strangely, I feel as if a chrome-coated drill was plunged into my back.

[@jimmyjoe9135]

I'm surprised that you did not mention the combination models, due to your love for alternate builds.

[@RRSlugger]

That's a fair point to bring up! I, however, don't have any of the sets that combine with each other, haha. 😭

[@minerman60101]

@@RRSlugger actually you do; the Granite Grinder and Thunder Driller combine, albeit into a silly model

[@SuperSecretBricks]

​@@minerman60101to be fair, most combiners are silly models. I've tried the 3 ones from the first wave and wasn't impressed

[@jimmyjoe9135]

@@RRSlugger I highly recommend you pick up the crystal sweeper, for the Crystal Reaper, The best combo model of all time in my opinion.

[@RRSlugger]

@@jimmyjoe9135 I've often thought about that, but then I'd have to get the Crystal Sweeper... (which looks hideous to me, haha) 😅

[@randombrickfilms1253]

This is truly a power miners moment in slugger history

[@ronnylewis5078]

I have to agree that the theme of rock raiders is definitely more creative and has a more gritty, dark colour pallet like what we see in films such as Alien. I grew up with power miners and after watching your comparison and looking back at the advertising, I realise that they were going for a completely different vibe. To me, power miners are trying to be a bit more realistic 😅, I know it sounds silly but as someone who works in the construction industry, all of the machines we use have bright high visibility colours as a health and safety precaution. A lot of machinery is covered in smooth colourful plates and plastic with the only rugged detailed part being the tool. Now hear me out because I’m gonna sound crazy. On its surface the theme is definitely not marketed seriously, but I feel there is a much darker story in the sets themselves. I noticed the first wave of sets start out as machines that require more realistic fuels to run, with gas tanks and fuel ports, the thunder driller looks like it has an old fashioned coal fire like on a train with that fire coming out the back, and the machines are also designed to mine and collect crystals. The second wave has containers to place crystals next to fuel tanks, as well as crystals that have been cut into smaller diamond shapes, as if energy crystals are now being used as a standardised way to power the equipment, and they carry tools that attack and capture the monsters themselves. Why does the titanium command rig need a net, cage and lab? Who mines with thin saw blades and flame throwers? It’s because humanity needs more crystals to power their world as they are running low on other fuels. Have you seen how small the vibrations are that the monsters make from eating a crystal compared to the huge tunnelling machines and explosive tons of dynamite that the PM use? We see in the ad that the monsters actually lay dormant until the miners arrive. It honestly seems to me like propaganda to justify the attack. Other themes have more creative enemy names like they are an actual species, these guys get the generic name of monster. I recommend looking at the brickipedia page on energy crystals. It’s all one big conspiracy 🤣. #savetherockmonster

[@autofigure00]

I like this take / idea

[@sentientblender]

at the end of the day the fact remains that the rock monsters are in the top 5 physical objects ever created something just gets me about the array of colors and the tactile sensations of holding them, makes my lizard brain truly happy in a way nothing else ever will 9 year old me spent hours looking at the teaser image for power miners on the back of lego magazine because it just grabbed me that hard, still does to this day

[@Nadiki]

The Lego crystals are also in the top 5 physical objects ever created imo, and getting so many cool colors in the theme make collector gremlin brain very happy.

[@Bionickpunk]

@@Nadiki Have the same feeling with CCBS transparent colored shells. Lego transparent plastic is a thing of beauty.

[@headcrabking9054]

As someone who grew up with Power Miners, and only heard about Rock Raiders far later in life, I can't agree more with everything you've said! I still love Powe Miners and all, but as I've grown up, I've found myself far more interested in the world of Rock Raiders, and all that's associated with it, far more than its successor! One thing that this video didn't mention, that I think was a major improvement in PM is the variety of monsters! The rock monsters in RRs are cool and all, but the Crystal King, and the other monsters in PM, with all their colors and sizes are way more interesting to look at and to play with! But I think there's one more thing Slugger has to talk about: wHat dO yOU tHInK aBoUT ThE LeGo CItY miNInG seTS??

[@RRSlugger]

Guess we'll have to wait another 3 years for me to talk about *those* sets! 😅

[@fuzzbuns84]

@@RRSlugger i'd rather hear you talk about the world city sets. they've always intrigued me as they were one of themes within that transitory phase between classic town and city and set precedence for minifig print designs of that era.

[@Eisenwald64]

Also, Power Miners was too abruply ended and we never got good closure. The color scheme was to evoke safety colors, but maybe some colors to offset the two colors would have made it look more alive, like paint wear. The inclusion of Bionicle pieces I actually loved, especially recolors, because of making bionicle MOCs, but they stuck out too much and were often in expensive sets. It may have been better to put Bionicle recolor parts in those creation kit jars.

[@Illuminatic]

I'd actually say that it had a somewhat of a closure. Brains, a character from this theme later appeared in the Atlantis set 7984 Deep Sea Raider. So it's likely their mission was successful

[@Eisenwald64]

@@Illuminatic Or maybe it was a "what will you make?" situation, where we end it ourselves!

[@Illuminatic]

@Eisenwald64 I mean I did say that it was likely, not 100% sure, so there is still room for interpretation

[@Eisenwald64]

@Illuminatic That's what LEGO did with Alpha Team Arctic, but they made it clear in the LEGO Club magazine that it was a "finish the story contest", but nothing like that with Power Miners. I do like the cameos of these characters; that makes the whole thing feel like its own series

[@KrissFliss]

What if they found remnance of bionicles in the rock and started using them!

[@HeadmasterAutobot]

There's definitely an age/nostalgia factor here, but "enigmatic" definitely explains the appeal RR had for me as a kid. I remember having a lot of thoughts about what wasn't explicitly shown, in a way PM wasn't in the same time or place to foster.

[@RRSlugger]

Exactly! Setting Rock Raiders in space on an uncharted planet did the series such a service when it came to the world building. 👍

[@ToaOfFusion]

That enigmatic feeling is what also resonated with me with Bionicle during its early years and the only thing that gave me that same sort of feeling since was a lot of Destiny 1's atmosphere which also shares the same clash of futuristic technology getting reclaimed by the forces of nature.

[@phoenixvance6642]

Evoking young imaginations is the most important thing a toy can do. Rock raiders hit the ball outta the park with that in a way that the more action/cool/gross/silly oriented themes can't accomplish.

[@notawesomebread]

Power miners doesn't have a CD game where you can spend hours building your base, only for the game to crash and force you to restart the entire mission. I think it's clear which theme is the winner here.

[@crabulicious7294]

I always interpreted the colors of the power miners' vehicles as the miners trying to stand out in the caves so none of them get lost. Like a miner goes missing in the cave and they can easily find him due to the bright colors standing out against the grey rocks. idk maybe it's just my brain trying to justify the odd color pallet.

[@Lordodragonss]

This is how it works in real life as well.

[@adamn.4615]

I was a broke college kid when Rock Raiders was out but had disposable income by the time Power Miners came out. Needless to say, I had more sets from the latter. I’m torn as to which theme I like better. RR has a much better color scheme and the 90s style elements and techniques, but I was always obsessed with the little trash can rock monsters from PM!

[@phoenixvance6642]

Yeah, woulda been funner if the old rock monsters could eat the crystals

[@forrestpenrod2294]

As a kid who grew up with Rock Raiders I LOVE Power Miners, probably prefer it. Power Miners is so well realized. The monsters and miners are so unique. The vehicles are genuinely fun to roll around and mine imaginary cave walls. The wave lineups had fantastic diversity while retaining theme. The waves actually built the story in a meaningful way as the miners burrowed deeper and deeper toward the planet's core and encountered new environmental and existential threats. I feel detailed lore is far less important for a construction toy designed to stimulate the imagination. As a kid in the 90s I never cared about the given lore behind sets, I made up my own. Insectoids allied with Fright Knights to battle UFO allied with the dastardly Lion Kingdom! (What can I say, I thought the bats were good guys because of Batman, and the lions bad guys because of Robin Hood). If Rock Raiders is a novella Power Miners is a writing prompt and I find the latter more engaging. ACTUAL construction equipment is high contrast yellow, orange, or red. To me Power Miners is very realistic! You don't want to blend into the deep dark underground, thats how people go missing or get run over!

[@Adder6112]

What he said

[@tuh8888]

As someone firmly in the RR camp, I think you make some excellent points. Thanks for sharing your perspective! The quality of the experience with PM seems to depend more heavily on the context bestowed upon it by the user whereas RR provides more of its own context.

[@Thinginator]

I agree. However I will say the advantage of storytelling in themes like RR is that they tell a little bit, but not a lot. They give you that writing prompt-style setting, but there's still a lot of mystery in the world building which goes intentionally unanswered. I partly wonder if some of this hast to do with story taking a back seat in the old days. Lego made toys first, and story was just a bonus thrown into marketing materials for funsies, to give a suggestion of what's going on in the toys' world. Nowadays Lego starts with the story and builds toys around it, which can work well - like in Bionicle - but often ends up giving a sense of "This is how we decided you should play with these." When you have shows and narratives built into the theme, it doesn't feel like you're encouraged to make your own stories as much. Lego used to instead give you just enough world building to ignite your imagination with curiosity and wonder, and leave you to write the rest.

[@Ringtail]

Fright Knights are definitely the coolest castle guys

[@NQR-9000]

The colors didn't seem strange or toy-like to me... Then I realised that's because one of the largest construction company here in Belgium, BAM Galere, had the very same color scheme for their heavy equipment and véhicule as the Power Miners 😅

[@yeeoof1995]

truth is stranger than fiction!

[@KanohiiSideOrder]

Something I started wondering about as I watched this video, that especially crystalized when mentioning the music here, was the effect of Bionicle on Lego storytelling. While its story certainly helped it have longevity, especially early on, as Bionicle slowly started to lose sales in the late 2000's, it might be possible that, at least in part, Lego could have seen the overcomplication of the story as one of the reasons for this. I mean, it did make the storytelling marketing a bit worthless if the series was too insular to bring in new fans through the story. Therefore, they might have experimented in making their storytelling much simpler and more conventional, probably starting with Space Police 3 (Which led to some... unfortunate implications there) going into many of its shorter action themes, as well as its two larger ones at the time, Ninjago and Hero Factory. Focusing on HF is especially interesting here, as its monster of the year formula broke any attempts at any story, especially in its later half. While the sets were still good, especially once CCBS got introduced, it made them generally less compelling and memorable. Like, I grew up with both Bionicle and Hero Factory, but Bionicle just has a much more compelling feel looking back at it, even in its less polished years. Like, who cares about Preston Stormer, but Kopaka is still cool and memorable. Again, this isn't to say these are bad toys, they still work well as things to play with, but they don't have enough under the hood. Liked the video, even as someone who has nostalgia for this bizarre yet fun mining theme.

[@RRSlugger]

This is a really great point! I think maybe LEGO threw the baby out with the bathwater when they simplified their stories down; yes, meandering stories are tedious and turn folks off, but having *some* depth behind the setting and atmosphere of a toyline is also important to draw folks in!

[@Bionickpunk]

Bionicle lore was not overcomplicated, but hard to access. Ninjago´s TV show approach is far more approachable to newcomers thant Bionicles books, comics, internet promos, or Gregs forum answers, non of which had the complete story, so you had to experiencing everything to even follow whats going on on an understanding level. To some this was doable, but for many including me, who comes from a country that didnt even sell the books, the majority of the lore was inaccessible until Biomedia Project posted it online...but by then the damage was done, Bionicle was at its terminal stage. Had Lego given Bionicle a show from the start instead of putting their show budget towards Galidor, things might have turned out differently. Its no wonder why most people remember the Bionicle movies and games as oppose to the books, as they are far easier mediums to get attached to.

[@DragonxFlutter]

@@Bionickpunk As a diehard Bionicle G1 fan that literally grew up with the series since 2002 (I was 7 at the time), I _want_ to disagree. BUT, taking off my nostalgia-fogged glasses and seeing clearly, I have to begrudgingly agree. I was fortunate enough to grow up in an environment where I _could_ get all the books and the comics and use the website and whatnot. I never knew about Greg's QnAs, but I saw a good majority of stuff, and used good ol' BS01 for the rest. Though I will suggest that, perhaps, Bionicle shouldn't have had a TV show. CGI at the time was, at best, Transformers: Beast Machines and Butt Ugly Martians. At worst, it was Cubix: Robots for Everyone. And I _highly_ doubt LEGO had enough interest to make a 2D animated series in the same vein as MNOG and its successors.

[@Bionickpunk]

@@DragonxFlutter While you are correct that TV CGI in the early 2000s was rudimentary at best, I do think a 2D approach could have worked....though I do agree Lego was not as open to a 2D show back then as they are now. Who knows what a Bionicle show might have looked like, could even have had live action parts akin to Power Rangers or the discarded pitch for Mask of Life having a real life kid interact with Bionicle characters. I must admit, I do not want to see a timeline with humans and Bionicles next to each other.

[@DragonxFlutter]

@@Bionickpunk I agree that ditching the "Lego Maniac" style of story-telling for Bionicle was the smart move. Though now I do kinda wish I could see the timeline where a televised MNOG-style series came to be. Just how much better could that style look with an actual budget and professional animators?

[@SuperDicq]

Another interesting comparison to me between Rock Raiders and Power Miners is cast diversity. Rock Raiders has a very diverse cast of characters with different personalities, different ages, different genders, and even disability (chief's prosthetic arm), while Power Miners just has a bunch of angry dudes and nothing else. One of the rare instances of newer themes being less inclusive than older themes.

[@RRSlugger]

Spot on!

[@Lordodragonss]

In addition that Lego never bothered to name few characters, and even more - MISLABLES own characters (DOC is like 3 different minifigs)

[@caustickrana_5629]

Its the sameface syndrome that does it for me. Lego isn't a stranger to using generic characters but power miners wanted one foot in the door and insisted these were distinct people. Brainz is about the only recognizable one while the rest blend together. A 1 dimensional character and four to five more 0.5 dimensional ones

[@phoenixvance6642]

​@@caustickrana_5629Not true!!! One of the guys has stubble! Very unique and diverse!

[@lightningcrush7795]

disability? Nah, he seems fine to me.

[@googleuser3163]

A new Slugger video at last, and on my birthday no less! Best birthday ever! Rock on Slugmeister!

[@RRSlugger]

Happy Birthday!! ❤️

[@trentmoyar2378]

As a zoomer who grew up with power miners, I feel the need to defend one of my favorite Lego themes, specifically regarding the topic of bright colors. Most heavy equipment that I have seen is brightly colored. Caterpillar machinery is bright yellow, John Deere machinery is green, just to name the two most popular brands, so in my mind, rock raiders having neutral colors is almost a further departure from my intuition of machinery then power miners choice of bright green. They are in a dim envornment after all, so paint that reflects light well makes sense in universe. The colors to me also give the theme a strong brand identity similar to how people associate yellow and blue with Aquazone, yet I wouldn't describe Aquazone's theming as being too toyetic, and neither would I describe power miners as such. The last point I'll make regarding using too many neutral colors in power miners is that when the rocks use the same neutral colors, suddenly your vehicles feel like they are at least partially made of rock. By using bright green as the main color, the chassis material is distinctly foreign to what is being mined, which portrays these miners are strangers in a strange land just through the color of the vehicles.

[@RRSlugger]

I knew the Zoomers would come for me the second I opened my mouth, haha! 😅😉 You're not wrong to point out the real world connotations that a colour scheme like this one has... but it still looks like a Fisher Price toy to me, haha. It can be both!

[@autofigure00]

I do really like the color scheme, when designing my own sets I took a deep look at HOW each color was used and found they had very specific uses, most of it is pretty intuitive / makes sense, but there were some patterns that were interesting based on how consistently they used each color. I appreciate how cohesive and consistent they were when utlizing each color across every wave, it feels like they really fleshed out the color scheme and when to use each color. orange - used for movement features, drilling elements, engine exhausts or inlets, and dangerous pieces of equipment. white - used for windows, seats, levers, control panels, and other components that the power miners interact with. black - structural technic components, drivetrains, and roll cages / guarding. lime green - used for filler bricks mainly to build out the shape, add details, and to create the curves and contours. dark gray - used for structural bricks and plates for the base frame of the machinery or structures, walking platforms, etc. light gray - used mainly for engine greebling and components or as an additional color for drilling and digging components. can also be seen as a secondary structural brick color along with dark gray but only in small amounts. The lava monster waves trade orange for blue but everything else is consistent, im not a fan of the blue and lime green color scheme though. I also loved how this theme integreated technic VERY well into the lego system. aside from the bionicle pieces, every set had a technic based playfeature and they were always very well made / designed and fun across every single wave. even the two polybags they made have technic features (despite being small and simple) I really appreciated and loved how well they merged the two and it really elevated the sets as system sets and playsets. And of course you can't forget that power miners still had alternate builds that were pretty cool and fun. I love the rock monster design and that all of them have fun play features and posability as well (I know the large rock mosnters have a "smile" but I see it as a grimace / evil grin not a playful happy grin). The theme had great greebling and engine detailing for the parts at the time as well and the vehicles overall looked like they could ahve been real minign equipment for the most part. The comics and ads made them look really goofy but I didnt really care about the story or how the rock monsters were portrayed to be more kid friendly which is definitely the real difference between PM and RR as you said. When I was a kid I pretty much only liked the series for the set and monster designs and because of how fun the sets were and how creatively designed they were. The story of power miners really is its big flaw and failure point unfortunately. As Lego sets, they were just designed SO well, and I view them as some of Lego's peak set and theme design (in a cohesive visual and playfeature sense, ignoring the story). I touched on it in the SOS server in early summer but I was always dissapointed at the lack of PM sets with crystal transportation as their main feature, bases, terrain, and other structures. I built that neat little dump truck build inspired by PM with the working suspension and dumping feature (then my senior year of college took over and I became inactive on discord and with lego :( almsot done though).

[@RRSlugger]

You'll get no argument from me on any of your points here! It's evident that care was put into so much of the design behind the sets... I just wish that same care could have been put towards the narrative, character, and world building aspects. 🙂 But, at the end of the day, not every LEGO theme needs to have a strong narrative. Power Miners is allowed to exist as simply really good toys! The only reason I bring it up so much in this video is that I often see folks online comparing Rock Raiders to Power Miners - even going so far as to call Rock Raiders "Proto-Power Miners", ugh..! In my mind, besides the superficial similarities, Rock Raiders and Power Miners aren't all that similar (for the reasons I point out in the video). Still great in their own respects, but just very different. 👍

[@HotDogTimeMachine385]

Honestly I wouldn't care if you loved or hated Power Miners, I just enjoy hearing you talk about this very niche topic! 😁

[@The_GumboJoe]

I love how the Thunder Driller Crystal Sweeper and Granite Grinder have play features that spring to life when you move them. kind of like time cruisers sets.

[@Nadiki]

Power Miners was my gateway Lego theme and to this day remains my favorite! The cool rock monsters and crystals, the numbered vehicles, the similarity of the uniforms with various insignias, and the vehicles made of relatively rare Lego colors (which also happen to be my favorites) meant I immediately became an addict. I didn’t learn about Rock Raiders until several years later when I got a bunch of hand-me-down Lego. I didn’t appreciate it as much then, but I do much more as an adult (Slugger’s infectious enthusiasm for the theme probably helped)! I really love both themes for what they are: Rock Raiders is a gritty futuristic theme with distinct characters and Power Miners is a goofy action theme with essentially two opposing armies (which I know Slugger may not enjoy, but as an early 2000s kid I grew up loving). They have totally different vibes but they’re both great in their own ways! I’m glad Slugger enjoys Power Miners at least a little bit. 😉 One thing Rock Raiders unequivocally does better than Power Miners though is its characterization. Out of the 7 Power Miners, only 4 of them are actually named? Heck, the rock monsters are better named than the miners are! (I gave them my own names though, the grin guy is Buzz, the metal plate guy is Gage, and the Granite Grinder guy is Sarge). The consistent uniforms make it extremely easy to make your own custom miners though which was a big thing for me as a kid. Still have every character in my Power Miners armada with a unique head

[@BrickingUpBrad]

Even thought I LOVE Power miners and Have always talked very highly about them you make great points here! If you see them as there own thing then both themes are great but when you compare then they both can be ripped apart so much. I mean that goes with any theme. BUT the biggest thing I agree with is the lore. As some one who has spent way more time then people should looking at different lego lore, power miners is super surface level. Rock Raiders and the themes around that time period usually always did a much better job building out the lore. Even though I wanted to just defend power miners this entire video you made really great points that cant be ignored! Well done!

[@RRSlugger]

Thank you so much! I really agree with your sentiment - they're both great on their own, but when you start comparing the two, the weaknesses of both become more apparent. 👍 In fairness to Power Miners, I really could have spent more time this video talking about how much better the play features are in those toys compared to Rock Raiders; it's something that I somewhat glossed over, but that truly is Power Miner's greatest strength to me. They're just solid toys!

[@nick11crafter]

god.... Sitting on the Rock Raiders title screen and just listening to that track... that brought a feeling to me I didnt know I had, a level of nostalgia Ive never before reached... One of the few things Manic Miners sadly didnt bring us..

[@fuzzbuns84]

i'm glad you gave power miners a fair shake! as much as i really like getting all the bionicle part recolors for mocs i understand the problem of aesthetic clashes in some sets-- i imagine some bionicle part inclusions are used to justify having the mold since it was created for a such a specialized theme. your comparisons of the media that came with power miners was interesting as i hadn't seen/heard of some of it, like the main theme-- i never realized how goofy power miners was marketed! i suppose my imagination did all the work, i didn't see smiling monsters i saw fierce ones that could devour rock, machine, and man. despite not owning any rock raiders since that was before my time, i always had headcanoned power miners as spiritual prequel, the tremor before the storm you could say. i hope you consider revisiting the theme and giving us your thoughts on the other sets and combo builds. i know the aforementioned cheesy studios covered a lot of that but i'm sure many of wanna know your thoughts there too lol. great video as always, slug!

[@floodedmoat]

As a lifelong lego fan, avid Bionicle collector, and longtime admirer of Rock Raiders (which came out a bit before my time), I can safely say that Power Miners doesn't hold a candle to anything from early 2000s Lego in terms of atmosphere, let alone Rock Raiders. I mostly agree with your take on the sets, except that bit on Bionicle pieces; I personally thought it was neat that Bionicle's DNA was still present in Lego system in very small portions. There's something awesome about highly detailed Bionicle pieces being compatible with the more rudimentary system Lego, and I always looked forward to getting recolors of Bionicle pieces to use in custom mocs.

[@TPLS2]

What the Lego group should do is bring back both of these series Rock Raiders and Power Miners, both bringing in new mechanics to both series and having them be rival mining companies but eventually they both come together due to their battling bringing back both series monsters but now the monsters are combining into each other creating super monsters and we get maybe transformer sets that can change from vehicle to battle miner machine. Also could be super cool to see the combining mechanic that was super popular in the power miners series become the forefront again of the rock raider and power miner company machines into these huge mining machines and battle mechs. I would’ve loved to see surface teams as when rock monsters are breaking the surface they are tearing up the building and could’ve had some really cool earthquake themed building that break when the rock monsters are together causing havoc. Also would’ve been cool to have more rock monster sets and other versions like why didn’t we see certain types of rock monsters that are crude shapes and like you said hiding in spots and bringing in the miners.

[@TPLS2]

Especially having the combo sets combine the two enemy teams finally united under one goal. Could’ve even had combo rock monster sets, where when they get a super sized crystal they combine into an unstable monster and begin targeting the mission bases which could been better implemented. And we never really had any great rock monster big bads which they could’ve made. Another idea I had would be underground style creatures right, like oh a lava salamander which begins eating the lava land and the crystals which it then becomes a crystal lava salamander but makes the crystals also based on real world geodes and gems and the mining goal would be to defeat these different cave crystal creatures. Like imagine there are weak points on the monster builds which the power miners have to build special task forces to defeat, like oh there is an underwater section which they could’ve done where it’s hot crystal springs where there is a lot of geode crystals that grow in that certain biome, they could even do like oh this is a high ceiling biome with lots of bats and say stalagmites and stalactites crystals which then become part of the biome boss which is a bat and it has those crystals on it like oh it’s wings are stalactites and the horns are stalagmites. But another one I thought of was a mega diamond rock king and since diamonds are the most valuable and hard rocks it has been the oldest formed rock monster king and say the tremors he creates are big enough to destroy entire Lego continents. And imagine how cool it would be to have biome species and specific colors like oh the miners are utilizing the crystals and such in the specific biome. Imagine how much they could’ve done like oh this biome is emerald or this one is amethyst so the colors of the machines would reflect the biome. The goals of the miners would be to defeat the biome bosses and return the super crystals back to their biome core and restore the balance of the biome and regains them control over that territory where they can safely utilize the crystals. Kinda like the core crystals could be used like the super battery for the final boss fight with the diamond crystal king. Where it’s powering a super drill machine which is also a gundam tank which they will battle the diamond crystal king with.

[@TheBlackBrickStudios]

This video summed up a lot of my own feelings about Power Miners as well. I remember getting every set of both Rock Raiders as a very young kid, and Power Miners as a teenager, and I always felt like something was 'off' about Power Miners, despite liking the theme and loving the engineering. A lot of the mocs I made as a teenager directly incorporated engineering techniques I learned in those sets. But Rock Raiders will never not have a special place in my heart because they were just perfect, despite the pre-2000s clunkiness.

[@BrickFleet]

Really hyped to see my animated comic panel mentioned in this video and honored to hear your thoughts on the theme. I grew up in he late 2000's on LEGO themes like Power Miners, Space Police III, Agents, and Atlantis. These were the core themes that inspired me today to make LEGO content! Nonetheless, I think that there's so much to say about Power Miners-- so much so that i've been slowly releasing each part of my documentary series about the theme. Fantastic video!

[@CW0123]

You’ve been our host, P. M. Snailer

[@natbarmore]

This is interesting and really highlights the difference of Lego having so many tv shows and comic books and so on. I never knew there were Power Miners cartoons and if I knew about the comics I never read them. So my vision of what the theme was about was driven entirely by the sets and their instructions and boxes. So it never even _occurred_ to me that it might be comedic or silly. To me, it was a pure action/adventure theme. Right up until about 2 minutes ago.

[@DragonxFlutter]

I think I can agree that the one thing that held back all the short-lived action themes in the late 2000s to mid 2010s was indeed the lack of intrigue. The Castle, Pirate, and Space sets from the late '80s and throughout the '90s (and yes, I'd include the Aqua sets in there too) had just enough story to give you some defined factions to play with, but left enough things open to make your own stories (assuming you lived in a region that didn't publish the adventures of Captain Redbeard ;P). Even Life on Mars did that, to an extent. And then Bionicle came along and set the gold standard for Lego storytelling. Not Playskool, but not anything a kid couldn't handle. And someone else already said it, but I'll confirm it: Bionicle's story problem never that it was too hard to get into. It was that it was spread too thin and never had a single, solid hub that could at least link to everything. BioMedia Project, the fan project striving to document every piece of Bionicle media that ever existed, is what would have saved Bionicle from a story perspective, if Lego had cared enough to think for two seconds before panic-killing their biggest cash cow. On the note of your frustrations about System using Bionicle pieces? Well...when you explain it like that, it _is_ a bit jarring. But as I grew older and learned at least a small amount of how toys are made, I can at least understand the reusage from a development standpoint. Molds won't pay for themselves unless you use them, and all.

[@RRSlugger]

Absolutely! And totally - I completely understand *why* Bionicle molds had to be reused in System sets... I just think it looks bad, that's all, haha. 😅

[@neslux]

The biggest issue I had with Power Miners growing up with Rock Raiders is the characters, in RR we had so many cool design for the characters, each with different colors, headpiece, tools ... In Power Miner they all look exactly the same with only very few details on their faces, some of them don't even have names, they all have the same blue helmets, blue pants, blue/gray sleeveless top, the only one with a small difference is Brain, but that's it It got even worse with the last tine where they were all chrome, looks cool, but no differences

[@TheWampam]

This is something that annoys me too. In fact so much, that I created my own unique casts of character whith actual roles for the expedition, that still managing to look uniform and like they belonged together.

[@kentslocum]

As someone who didn't grow up with Bionicle, I actually appreciate the creative use of those pieces in the Power Miners sets. As someone whose favorite color is lime green, I really appreciate the color scheme of Power Miners. I know nostalgia plays a factor in the way we experience these themes, but I have great memories of both Rock Raiders and Power Miners, so I feel I can honestly say that they really can't be compared. Rock Raiders is fairly adult-focused in setting and storytelling, while PowerMiners focuses on playability and functionality. 😊

[@dawnbreakerdrake8427]

the long awaited power miners video is finally here, and it was deffo worth the wait

[@HotDogTimeMachine385]

It would be interesting to see power miners in rock raiders' color scheme!

[@shonenbag6478]

This theme was MY childhood! Thanks for talking about it and giving me a different perspective!

[@Lordodragonss]

I remember not agreeing with people on Lego forums back then... I LOVED the colorsheme they used. It's quite realistic actually many underground machines uses red, orange or even yellow on their "vital" parts! I ADORE SPINING SLUG as much as I love Rockmonsters who became part of my own Lego history! :D

[@flamewave64]

Oh I thought this was going to be a series. You’d love the line if you get to build them. There is more to a lego theme then just the story or music. Different toys are played with different. And personally I think the crazy colors work great just look at real mining equipment it’s mostly bright yellow.

[@deckie_]

Honestly a valid point You've expanded my perspective

[@RRSlugger]

It's true, the builds themselves are where Power Miners shines best! ...but I just don't find the theme all that *inspiring* when it lacks depth to its setting or atmosphere, sorry. If I find more Power Miners stuff in the future, I'm sure I'll pick it up, but I can't really see myself being inspired to make more videos on the theme. 😅

[@loganlamoreaux5347]

i had a completely different experience with bionicle parts in other sets. i never bought any bionicle sets and didnt even know much about it, so all the complex parts just looked cool to me as a kid. Looking back, they do stand out, but if you dont already know what those parts were originally for, it just seems like cool lego pieces.

[@basedsamtv]

Haha this video sure was a long time coming. When I was younger I didn't know much about Lego's official canon for this series, so it didn't detract from my enjoyment of the sets themselves. The actual Rock Monster minifigures look more menacing in person and don't have the silly cartoon eyes like they do in the promo material. I feel that the greater playability of the sets got my imagination running and helped me develop my own story and lore for this world, which led to me forming great memories and becoming attached to the theme. You didn't bring up the final wave much, but do you think the chrome accents on those sets help round out the color scheme a bit more? From what I've seen most people prefer the first wave but it'd be cool to see the lava wave get some love too! Great video as always!

[@RRSlugger]

I think the final wave of Power Miners stands as a bit of a testament as to how limited the idea of digging for crystals deep underground really is. Eventually, you have to get where you're going... and then what? 😅 Rock Raiders only lasted a single wave, but had it continued, I think it would have run into the same issue. The 3rd wave of Power Miners is certainly interesting to look at - modifying the colour scheme of the series is a fairly bold move, but I don't think replacing the orange with blue made the sets any less garish. The overuse of lime was the problem from the start, and this did nothing to fix it, haha. I'm not sure if also adding chrome on top of that did much to tie the visuals together, personally. Kick lime to the curb and run with a blue, black, white, and chrome colour scheme - then we're cooking with gas! 😉

[@JACKBRICKBUILDS_]

Just wanted to hop in the comments here to say you have fantastic content! The effort is never unnoticed and you are covering such interesting themes that are not known to all. Love the videos and please keep it up!

[@RRSlugger]

Thank you so much! 😊

[@Space-Holiday]

I think the Power Miners love online comes from a lot of people who have nostalgia for the sets, but for those who grew up with Rock Raiders, PM is such a far cry from the era RR came from. Being a kid of the 90s, I love the simpler designs and pieces of System sets that challenged the imagination more, and sadly I cant find that in the overly-detailed designs of Power Miners. 😢

[@forrestpenrod2294]

As someone who grew up with Rock Raiders I far prefer Power Miners. Pound for pound the play features are amongst the best LEGO has ever done!

[@Maniac4Bricks]

I've let this video marinade for over a day, and while I still enjoy both themes for their own merits, I do agree on some of the points illustrated here. In hindsight, I realize that the color scheme for power miners is actually quite bright - lime green and orange are both regarded as a secondary colors. And according to color wheels I have researched, they also don't seem to complement each other very well. The relationship can be described as analogous or nearly triadic instead of complimemtary. They're both lighter aspects of warm and cool colors in their realms. I've always found their use of orange as a pointer to their functions to be part of their charm - in regards to being a toy. This is no different from any other line having a piece or assembly in Red when the rest of the model is anything but Red. But in universe I dont think it fully works. Its like its closer cousin, City Mining - the red on those vehicles is more than the drills or buckets, but hardly. Its integrated to the color scheme but acts like a place to show the functions. At least 2012 was a little more subtle in this approach than 2018. The lack of characterization does hurt Power Miners for me. I grew up with the theme - I recieved Thunder Driller and Granite Grinder for chriatmas 2008 and saw prototype leaks online - and I can't pinpoint which minifigure is Rex. The uniforms are nice but Rock Raiders has the benefit of each character being distinct while still belonging to the whole. Power Miners can only offer that in Chief and Brains, while the rest are distinct by little torso details, an insignia on the front and back, and their faces. I have confused building PM figures by their torsos before; I never have that confusion in Rock Raiders. And yes, PM suffers a lacking story. No intrigue. If both themes were movies, I would classify Rock Raiders as sci-fi, while PM would rest as Action with scifi elements. The initial story was exciting to me at 13/14 years old, but then made me question: have rock monsters always been earths core? Does exterminating them disrupt a natural order? If they can drill to the Mantle, wont that cause other problems for the planet? Im no geologist, and hardly enough youtuber to exposit my own video about the themes. But i can understand the mystique is lost in PM and looks more like repurposed construction equipment. I dont have much to say but some BIONICLE/CCBS pieces work with System better than others, and lego pushes both regardless. I don't know how to end this comment other than, I hope Slugger has some eye drops after reading so much 😅

[@RRSlugger]

I appreciate the comment, Joey! It’s certainly not my intention to convince anyone that Power Miners is bad or anything - only that there are reasons I don’t hold it in as high regard as Rock Raiders, that’s all. 😊

[@messymop9772]

Love stuff like this. All your points against it is why I love it and that’s super cool with me. Everyone is unique and have their own perspectives. I’ll always enjoy power miners more but it’s all subjective so there’s no use in getting upset when someone prefers something else. Great stuff as always slugger

[@damonullerick6572]

Welp, I was today years old when I found out that Power Miners had a musical theme. Learn somethin' new every day.

[@Al.Sulikas]

I agree on the bionicle pieces part. Some of them do blend well with system bricks, and some don't. I think it can be done, but it depends solely on one's imagination.

[@WackoMcGoose]

I was today years old when that thumbnail made me realize what the _Manic_ Miners logo used as inspiration.

[@boggle_rocket]

I love your take on the "growing up seeing shoehorned-in Bionicle pieces" - as a, let's say picky (read: undiagnosed but almost certainly autistic) child, seeing the hyper-specific moulds as a 'particular' piece was distracting for me too, and it's always nice to have someone put an abstract feeling like that into words :')

[@justthink1616]

Even if the colorscheme of power miners is too bright ( like how miners that dig inside dark caves full of dust and dirt would have so clean looking vehicles. Like if they just came from the factory...) The characters that were used, were too generic, and mising any intresting storys behind them. And even though i really like the rock monsters, there is no debate on the fact that they are too cartoonish. But the sets them self is where this theme really shines. The play features especialy. And from what i heard, pretty much everyone that grew up loved to play with these sets...

[@leonid1676]

For me, the aspect that made power miners so cool was their design language balancing between being industrial and cartoony. If Atlantis can be loved for being the first to perfect the true sleek design (that is now unfortunately what we get in almost every set), Powerminers is the theme that for me best replicated the ragged design of many models from the era when sets used fewer pieces. I think they achieved it by designing the entire set around a play function with all the Minifigure amenities added later. This was also thematically fitting for what is basically digging equipment. My favorite details in Rock Raiders sets are the Tunnel Transports computers in the landing gear and Granite Grinder tool holders on the legs and I believe Power Miners has a lot of the same design language. This honestly made trying to create mocks for power miners so fun as the design language was so mock-friendly creating an overkill piece of mining equipment is fun and it adds nicely to your real sets.

[@Lordodragonss]

And fact they added food in almost every bigger PM set xD

[@MicoDossun]

I agree with the sentiment that as someone who was there during the Bionicle explosion it is impossible to distance the use of the pieces from their original functions. They’ll never feel perfectly correct for a plane or big truck. The only thing I really liked about Power Miners was an emphasis on generic miners. I loved Alpha Team so I certainly like the small team aspect of Rock Raiders, but it always felt weird to me that there were no grunts joining the operation. Of course I’ll take a few named characters over a large swath of grunts (especially since the total cast of Rock Raiders and Power Miners combined contains one woman), but it feels nice to have a generic template to fill out your miners. And no, I didn’t really like that the game used one of the guy’s outfit as the generic template.

[@logancure1703]

That enigmatic theme… gives me bionicle vibes 🤩 totally understand you

[@mensen2462]

I think you bring up some really good points about the storytelling. I grew up with power miners sets as a kid and I love that series, but I have to admit that the lore behind those great sets is lacking in many ways. I liked to make my own comic books around power miners and create new interesting stories, because I didn’t find the story to be… interesting. It’s simple and easy to get into, but I was far more interested in the unexplored possibilities, not the actual story by Lego. For example, many of the images had dark spooky rock faces, so I liked to imagine how the world could be different and more hardcore behind that rock. Anyways, good video and thanks for talking Power Miners.

[@Nadiki]

Yeah the lore for Power Miners is really underwhelming sadly. I think there was a flash game for it, but it doesn’t remotely compare to the Rock Raiders game. Perhaps if it’d been given a serious game and a fleshed out world (think Atlantis with its animated series) it would’ve been more beloved, even by older Lego fans

[@real.ilya_remov]

Fantastic video and I see your points. It feels almost similar to the comparison between Bionicle and Hero Factory. There are a few points that I'd love for you to see and consider: It's in Lego's spirit to reuse pieces originally introduced as unique. More frequently today than at that time, admittedly, a piece gets introduced and then remolded into a different colour to make sense in a different theme. They are, of course, still recognisable, but most people do not mind. As someone who likewise grew up during that time, I didn't ever see these pieces as 'belonging' in a particular set. The story of Power Miners played, as far as I can tell, a far smaller role than it did in other themes. Comics, especially overseas, were scarce and even today, the assumption that miners competed with rock monsters for the power crystals persists in those only tangentially interested's minds. Therefore it's quite easy to imagine, and fully infer, a story that while not better or deeper than the one Rock Raiders presents, stands well on its own. Bionicle suffered from the lack of this approachability later down the line. Rock Raiders never got the chance. Others already mentioned colours and numbering as good points for the design of the theme, but those doesn't seem to be the main criticism presented in your video. Another point that I didn't see made is the sequentiality and specialisation of sets and vehicles. Power Miners' vehicles all have one, clearly defined and instantly obvious role each - and while this may be problematic for someone who could only afford one set, in pairs or threes they make a team with dedicated tasks, as opposed to Rock Raiders' full-on drillfest (with rare exceptions). It's possible that imagination and lore fill in that gap, but it seems easier to come up with a story for Power Miners than for Rock Raiders to organise this way. Would love to hear what you think!

[@RRSlugger]

Thank you! Honestly, I agree with everything you’re saying here. In principle, I love it when LEGO reuses moulds in their sets… in practice, however, Bionicle parts just don’t gel with me for reasons I listed in the video. I definitely think that the “story” behind Rock Raiders (or any mining theme) is inherently limited; maybe Rock Raiders could have survived to get another wave, but eventually the well dries up. There’s only so many types of drilling vehicles to be had - Power Miners ran into this problem by its third wave even! Like you said, Rock Raiders was never given the chance for its story to become meandering or unapproachable, and I can’t really imagine a scenario where it could have. A lot of people liked the numbered sequence to the Power Miners vehicles as it added a sense of order and collectibility to the line. I don’t mind it, but it does kind of come off as toyish to me - another strike against Power Miners’ credibility. As toys though, Power Miners sported some of the best from that era of LEGO. I certainly wouldn’t have many kind things to say about something like Mars Mission… 😅

[@Halo1Buff]

It took me over 20 years to finally complete my Rock Raiders set collection, finding this channel prompted me to seek the last one I needed. Thanks for making me feel like a kid again and return to the world of wonder that is LEGO. Now back to Manic Miners.

[@RRSlugger]

That's awesome! ❤

[@ZombieJeff]

As other people have no doubt noted, I feel like the transition between rock raiders and power miners to be a really good example of Lego adjusting over time. I think Bionicle especially, but some of the other named character-centric sets as well, made them realize that it's easier to sell characters to kids then concepts, even if the kids will clue into the concepts readily enough. Honestly, that and the overwhelming popularity of IP tie in sets is a big step towards the longevity of Ninjago... I'm just glad the company is realizing plenty of people are interested in the build experience and not just the toy aspect in recent years. Now if you don't mind me, I have 40k minis to paint based on Power Miners and Rock Raiders.

[@RRSlugger]

Good luck with the minis! 😊

[@Robert-vk7je]

Oh boy, the Rock Raiders menu theme gave me the heebie-jeebies as a child. And I loved it. ^^

[@2lazyforanamethekgod307]

The main issue with the Power Miners and Rock Raiders connection is it ends at "they both dig underground for energy crystals and fight rock monsters" which ignores that Powers Miners is part of a larger story between the Aqua Raiders and Atlantis themes which seemed to be more common during the 2010s so when compared to rock raiders' more self contained story it looks weaker overall. The story between those 3 themes is still quite vague outside of the Atlantis short film but I believe it was a deliberate choice to leave things up to the child's mind, like them making first wave Atlantis rings nearly the same colours as the first wave of Power Miners rock monsters + crystals (outside of the yellow ring and Sulfurix being different colours) to sort of imply a connection if you had both themes

[@dangalfthedruid]

WOW. Came in ready to disagree, but that theme convinced me. Grew up with early Bionicle, juuust missed Rock Raiders. Man, that theme song and those animations changed my mind. I so wish I'd been able to collect those sets and play the games! Great video!

[@RRSlugger]

Thank you! I really appreciate you watching the video with an open mind! ❤️

[@Ryoni93]

I hve never in my life clicked a video as quickly as this one, and I am beyond ready.

[@SuperSecretBricks]

One does not simply ask a 1990s fan their opinion about a 2010s theme 😅. I share overall the same feeling: nostalgia might be speaking for me, but what really draws me to Rock Raiser was the sense of mystery qnd industrial looks. Power Miners is totally different, it definitely is more of an action theme. I got to try all the 1st wave sets, and while I wasn't surprised to like the Thunder Driller, I also ended up having too much fun with the Claw Digger! The orther sets didn't leave a lasting impression on me. In the end, it is as you said: Power Miner is a good theme, but it just is too different from Rock Raider to draw a fair comparison

[@eightcoins4401]

I think its not just nostalgia, Rock Raiders came out to a time where lego first bothered to think alot about world building due to struggling sales wise. Its kinda the bionicle effect but on a way smaller scale. By the time Power Miners came out lego had to experiment less again and didnt have to be as ambitious. Its why theres so much lack of story and world.

[@siljeff2708]

Imagine if in 10-20 years we see one of RR Slugger’s students create a youtube channel based around Power Miners! RR Slugger may be creating his future arch villain!

[@ct3000]

As a kid I grew up with power miners sets but I had alot of rock raiders custom pieces from yard sales which is how I got most of my misc legos. So I had a lot of rock raiders misc stuff like the rock monster, drills, crystals, ect. I didn't know what a rock raiders was then so I always just played with them together. Its really interesting to hear about the offical lore and the tonal difference now, But to me they will always be just my miner legos and I love them all the same.

[@faithcamarena94]

oh i'm so happy i found this channel.. great video!! :)

[@RRSlugger]

Thank you! Welcome to the channel! ❤️

[@flamewave64]

Finally this is what we have been waiting for this is literally why I subbed

[@vonyinzer]

Honestly when I came out of my "Dark Ages" and rediscovered lego, Power miners was one of the themes that I fell in love with when I started to look at what came out while I was away from the world of lego. personally the color pallet and minifigs of the rock raiders really didnt grab me at all. the colors seemed off and like a mish mash of a theme, Power miners reminded me of classic space with the formality and apperance of the characters.

[@karnkarniththecarnatoraus]

love your take! I do believe that the rock raiders theme is far more unique with its space theme, a interesting conflict between stranded humans and rock golems. meanwhile power miners focuses on a far simpler and more boring storyline that takes place on earth. The rock raider colors were far more industrial and worn down like real digging equipment designed for mining resources, meanwhile power miners leans far more into the bright and niche colors, keep up the good inspired work!

[@RRSlugger]

Thank you! ❤️

[@dalek4463]

I think in terms of the Color scheme (at least for the figs and maybe the sets) I think they really should’ve gone with one of the prototype schemes aka “Dark green, bright orange highlights and greyscale accents”

[@jackmoorm]

A little late to this one slugger, but I finally understand your perspective (and the perspective of all other Raiders over PM Lego fans). Power Miners was so great to me when I was young not because of the story it gave me, but rather all the stories I created with its incredible sets :)

[@PurpleRhymesWithOrange]

The Rock Raiders theme sounds like something ominous is approaching. The Power Miners theme has a great beat and builds anticipation but sounds like the confidence of, "it's nothing we can't handle"

[@ENDfilms44]

I do enjoy the overall look and play of power miners sets over rock raiders sets. But yeah if you want to go beyond the sets it wasn't as good, didn't have much use for the colors in other builds and my favorite external media was just the designer videos showing off a set's function and messing around in some funny comedy scenarios they would imagine up with the function and the rock monsters. (and tbf I initially bought/asked for the sets purely to build the functions and collect the colors of monsters).

[@roseconleey103]

i grew up in that weird era between these themes - I'm old enough to remember checking the rock raiders game out from the library's cd-rom section, but young enough that I can still recall patiently saving up for the bigger power miners sets. I have strong memories of both of these themes (probably part of why I got so excited about a certain Cave Game when it was first coming out, come to think of it...) and I've been patiently awaiting this video haha. no hard feelings, just as well reasoned as I'd hoped and expected. the return of slugger was worth the wait!

[@MistahhMingus]

Wow, that Rock Raiders OST sounds like something out of Alien, or 2001 ASO. I LOVE IT :D

[@scorpionwins6378]

Reasons why I like rock raiders more: 1) Lime green/orange aesthetic is a bit too loud for some, opposed to a more muted, earthy pallette (plus that teal found in RR is just terrific). 2) Actual printed pieces vs stickers. 3) Minifigure design. With RR you get a more diverse array of torso, face, helmet design. The Crew Chief being one of the more rare and highly sought after among collectors (He currently tops my wanted list). 4) Chrome drill pieces are cooler and more eye pleasing than flat gray/silver. 5) There is something quite charming about 90's era Lego. Brick shaped pieces and common slopes were still widely utilized which the OG fans came to love so much. 2000's and onward saw a major change and a lot of new odd shaped pieces were being produced. Bionicle parts were repurposed into some of the power miners sets as mentioned. 6) In addition to 5, nostalgia hits harder with the older kids. I personally find Rock Raiders to be one of the more greater sub themes Lego ever came out with. Also the Crew Chief is just such a unique minifigure that I hope to one day have in my collection. Feel free to add your own opinions to any of this.

[@Sopsy_Hallow]

i personally dont mind the colour scheme and dont even see it as "toy-ish", while lime is a bit of an odd choice to me, the vibrance and amount of colour makes sense in the setting. they're in an area that would be mostly greys and browns, they need to be able to easily find their machines if they get lost. and those machines are pretty new, they have some wear but not that much, maybe more wear wouldve looked better but i find it appropriate regardless not that i am such a fan of the colours themselves, not a lime/green person, the orange i like although if i were to choose colours they'd likely be yellow and maybe red, more common colours for construction and digging equipment, but admittedly not very inspired

[@Sopsy_Hallow]

(also if you change the lime to white you essentially get mars missions colour scheme including colour distribution and more or less placements, kinda fun)

[@satellachannel6423]

One thing for sure is that both themes are a really good representative of their respective era. I'm a 90's child so i'm biased, RR is my jam. I agree with your opinion but i grabbed a few Power Miners sets at the time and they're pretty cool in their own merits. Here's my take; A good explosive action-theme, loosely based on a blast from the past. RR was so short-lived i'm pretty sure The Lego group took it like a chance to "finally do something (financially viable) with this underground theme idea we had ten years ago..." But i've always felt like Power Miners has a more... sanitized vibe. The color scheme is bright but it works, i've seen real construction/farm vehicles with similar in-your-face paintjob. The vehicles and characters feels like they're meant for a more army-building approach, like you are the Chief (!) of operations and slowly add equipment to your collection, it's "Collect'em all!", when Rock Raiders was more in-line with the Build-it yourself message of Lego at the time; You're stranded, here's a bunch of parts, go face any challenge of the depths.

[@Alfwin]

I agree with pretty much all of your points here - though, I still really like Power Miners! I have pretty much all the sets from wave 1, and a couple from wave 2 (by contrast, I don't have any complete Rock Raiders sets). The play features of the Power Miners vehicles are just so darn fun, and that's enough to elevate the theme pretty high in my estimation. And I can't help but love the rock monsters; their design is just so endearing! That said, I definitely agree about the aesthetic and atmosphere being lacking compared to Rock Raiders. The use of Bionicle elements in Power Miners is better than in some other themes (looking at you, Vikings), but still feels a bit odd. And yeah, the color palette is too garish. The story was less of an issue for me, since (with the exception of Bionicle) I've always been more inclined to ignore the 'official' story of LEGO themes altogether, in favor of coming up with my own stories inferred from the design and details of the sets themselves. As I recall, the story I most often used when playing with the Power Miners sets as a kid was one of the minifigs and rock-monsters having to learn to set aside their mutual distrust and become allies instead of enemies - sort of like the Star Trek episode, The Devil in the Dark (TOS s1e25). The design of Power Miners is well-suited to such a story, I think - especially with the rock-monsters being so... friend-shaped. Now that I'm writing this, I realize: what I loved about Power Miners, and why I remember it very fondly, wasn't just the fun play features (although those were great); it was the stories of optimism, co-operation, and xenophobia giving way to understanding that the design and aesthetics of the Power Miners sets prompted me to imagine.

[@EbagStudios]

Despite growing up with power miners, I was always so much more intrigued by rock raiders. This strange Lego theme from a bygone era with a mysterious vibe to it. And the fact that rock raiders sets weren’t around anymore when I was a kid just added to that mystery. And I feel like the reason power miners was missing that mystery is due to it being made as a toy line and only as a toy line. I still love power miners, it’s one of my favorite themes but what you said still rings true.

[@portalpiggy]

as someone who grew up with power miners and not rock raiders, this was super interesting! i still hold a great love in my heart for power miners as a theme, ive been meaning to dig out (no pun intended) all my old sets and put them together!

[@aquestforthetruth1653]

Power miners is great because of the simplistic child like wonder it brings me. It reminds me of a time that something so simple could be endlessly satisfying. I never even think about the storyline really because I never really cared to.

[@lumiimote]

I remember loving power miners so much when it was around, I was in elementary school at the time. I remember being so so scared of the idea of rock monsters living under the crust of the earth. Those animated commercials and promos were like horror movies to me haha

[@PurpleBrickfilms]

This may sound rather odd, but I feel as if Power Miners just had too much creativity already pre-baked into it. The colors, the goofiness of the story, even as a kid it felt like there was barely any room for me to shoehorn in my own ideas. And while this same thing can be said about many other themes, the goofiness of Power Miners really stuck out to me when I was younger. “Kids can handle stakes in their stories” is a quote that really stuck out to me in this video, it kind of explains why I was so turned off by a lot of themes in the early 2010’s. Looking back, too much of it felt like a kid had already came up with the whole story. And this isn’t a diss on Power Miners as a theme, I still find the set designs themselves to be rather good, I just wish that there was more of an intrigue to the story. Mysterious earthquakes coming from deep underground… it would’ve been awesome if it just took itself a bit more seriously.

[@RRSlugger]

100%! 👍

[@ids5621]

The bionicle and music comparison is so apt. I have very similar feelings about g1 bionicle vs g2, all the similarities are superficial

[@JohnnyBeerAK-47]

As someone who is incredibly nostalgic for the Power Miners theme (albeit more nostalgic towards Bionicle), it's incredibly refreshing to see an analysis of the theme which dives into shortcomings and flaws that I've honestly never taken into consideration before. I especially thought the comparisons to brightly coloured kids toys and NERF guns were hilarious. Little fun fact: In LEGO Batman 2, the vehicle they gave Bane, his Mole Machine, is a recolour of the Thunder Driller set; the major difference being the entire thing is red as opposed to the prominent green and orange colour scheme. I've always thought the red to be more pleasing to the eye but the actual set has always been my favourite of the theme.

[@RRSlugger]

Thank you! 😊 A recolouring of Power Miners vehicles into an M Tron like aesthetic would be awesome! 🤯

[@OrbitalLizardStudios]

8:32 Woah. I have to admit this is my first time hearing this (I hadn't even heard of rock raiders before finding your channel) but that sounded awesome. I guess I'll go on a rock raiders music deep dive now

[@jimclark5982]

I saw a Reddit comment that referred to Rock Raiders as "proto-Power Miners" and it instantly became a one-Slug kind of day.

[@RRSlugger]

Haha, how to spot Gen Z a mile away! 😉

[@Mysda_]

Power Miners is one of the last theme with a color theme that really pushes you to make MOCs, I just love it. The focus on play feature really makes it worth to me.

[@Schlelkohov]

I ultimately agree, though must contest that rock raiders is carried largely by it's extraneous media, where the admiration for power miners is in it's sets themselves rather than it's limited advertising material. The alternate builds, the functions Rock raider's models in comparison relied on larger specialized pieces, with the draw from modern fans being the reverse-engineering of unreleased structures and equipment from the games. In this I see them as balanced opposites haha

[@RRSlugger]

It's true! Power Miners *did* have the luxury of multiple set waves though, as a counterpoint. If we compared Rock Raiders to only Wave 1 of Power Miners, that would be a little more apples to apples. 😉

[@Schlelkohov]

@@RRSlugger Aye, I only wish lego would see the positives of both and cook up something in the present for both crowds Unfortunately though, any future mining theme will probably boil down to another simple wave of ninjago 😷

[@Bionickpunk]

@@Schlelkohov I mean, they already made several mining drills in Ninjago as Cole´s vehicles. I dont think even a wave inspired by mining would happen, more like few vehicles scattered throughout the years.

[@Schlelkohov]

@@Bionickpunk Yeah, the point here was that most ideas that could make for nice themes usually get watered down into a slice of the greater ninjago pie It's overstayed it's welcome imo, but that's a different discussion entirely 😅

[@davydigger708]

@@Schlelkohov Or City (which they have already done).

[@randomdudeontheinternet4389]

I agree fully, but I don't mind the color set at all. I feel this fits with digging machinery quite well, as most digging equipment on earth has quite garish colors, so you don't get mulched accidentally, because you didn't notice the equipment. I think the difference between RR ans PM is, that the machines of the RR are pretty scrappy and thrown together out of necessity. The machines of the PM are basically brand new and purpose built, which makes them feel more like a product, than a scrapyard project. Both themes have nailed the style imo. I kinda miss the edge of 90s and Y2K Lego. It was cheesy as hell sometimes, but it had a really unique feel to it.

[@PurpleRhymesWithOrange]

How about building recolored Power Miners with the same pallet as Rock Raider? Then have the story be that while they found enough crystals on Planet U to get their ship up and running it wasn't enough to get home. Fortunately have detected reading of another planet having the same crystals. So the story continues on another unexplored planet with all new creatures completely unrelated to those they have encountered before.

[@yeeoof1995]

i agree with your take on power miners' storytelling. hell, they could have had a giant snake-like being being the actual source of the vibrations from it moving around the underground.

[@polarwear]

I could not agree more regarding the use of Bionicle parts in System sets. I get why they did it, but boy do they stand out.

[@Schlelkohov]

(Last observation I swear) Your alternate pallette is interesting to me in that too much silver is why the mistika wave of bionicle isn't remembered too fondly, nor the palettes of rahkshi or toa metru's for that matter- their overuse of gray One comment here makes the point of construction vehicles coming in various solid colors like yellow, but I still agree with you in that two may be too many. I do like how the miners themselves contrast their vehicles with their blue helmets and yellow minifigure elements, but wonder then what compromise could be made.. perhaps more muted colors like the dark and sand greens of the russian vehicles of indiana jones? With a dark orange or dark tan for the mining tips? Will say I appreciate the stickers in power miner's sets that show heavy scratching and rust to give the constructs a feeling of wear like the brown elements did in raiders

[@Schlelkohov]

What are your options on the volcano wave of lego city btw? Are they better or about the same level of toyishness as the power miners?

[@Bionickpunk]

Ironically, the reason why Bionicle socket pieces used gray is what ultimately prolonged their lifespan. Gray plastic is more durable than the colored ones, with Lime ironically being the worst. While I do think the movie color schemes for the Metru are superior, in highsight, its much easier to deal with gray and black sockets from a longevity standpoint for a long dead build system, than the brick colored sockets used in later years. I do think CCBS (and mixel) had this on point by primarily focusing on black and gray skeletons, having durability in mind, where as its transparent skeleton pieces often broke sooner than the rest, even with the updated socket designs. Maybe the new sockets they created with no side holes prove to be even more durable, but black and gray will always prove to be durable plastic colors.

[@RRSlugger]

Honestly, those sets are *less* lime and more grounded than Power Miners! I think I prefer the look of them, haha. 😅

[@boop53]

great video! I’m an outsider who has never been into the Rock Raiders or the Power Miners themes, but its interesting to see their differences on display here, and maybe how the same ideas can change if done in a different time or with a different style